Systems and methods for a customized media access user experience

ABSTRACT

A custom graphical user interface is displayed in a media device accessed by a plurality of users upon authorization of access by a select user. The media device receives a request to display a custom graphical user interface, determines authorization for access, and receives data indicative of the custom graphical user interface associated with the select user. The media device may also select at least one command code compatible with the media device for configuring a remote control device to command the media device and transmit the command code to the remote control device for provision the remote control device.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

The present application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/656,153, filed on Oct. 17, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present description relates generally to a customized user experience and more particularly to various systems and methods for a customized media access user experience.

BACKGROUND OF RELATED ART

Personal communication, productivity, and entertainment devices such as cellular phones, tablet computers, e-books, hand-held games, portable media players, PDAs, etc. are known to include features such as graphical user interfaces, some with touch screens, Bluetooth and/or WiFi capability, etc. Many such devices also incorporate support for ancillary applications (hereafter referred to as “apps”) for example calendars, email, games, social media interfaces, video streaming, music streaming, cable TV provider support and/or streaming, maps and navigation, etc. Furthermore, in some instances support for such apps may also be provided as a feature of certain entertainment appliances such as for example so-called “smart TVs,” cable or satellite set top boxes, etc. For the sake of brevity, all such app capable devices whether personal/portable or appliance-based, will be collectively referred to hereafter as “smart devices.”

Contemporaneously, each of the above-noted devices may accept a certain level of customization and/or preference retention. For example, a user's cellular phone may include various user interfaces and apps that are chosen and customized to the user's preference. It is also understood that loss of customization and/or preferences due to a failure to synchronize settings between various smart devices is a cause for user dissatisfaction and frustration. To overcome the above described problem, the system and method described hereinafter will present customized media access user experience when the user visits a remote or foreign location, such as a hotel.

SUMMARY

The following relates generally to improved methods for configuration of a smart device and/or remote control based upon stored user customizations, and, more particularly, to methods for presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) on a smart device and/or a remote control, which may utilize a geographic location and a user profile, to identify the user, display a customized and preferential experience, and alternatively configure a remote control to operate with the local device. Furthermore, as some remote locations, such as hotels, require additional security features, such as when a user vacates the premises, the example methods and systems provide for verification of the present customizations and a deletion of any user specific customization or preference when leaving the location.

To this end, in some examples, a smart device may utilize any convenient method for determining the current user credentials and customize the smart device and/or remote control accordingly. In some examples, the smart device may utilize the geographical location of the smart device and/or remote control, such as for example and without limitation a built-in GPS receiver system; hybrid mobile phone geo-positioning as described for example in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0294515, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety; determination of position information based on multiple sources such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,865, also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety; or any other means as appropriate for a particular embodiment. In certain examples, the smart device app may also communicate with other appliances present in the local environment, for example a cable or satellite STB, in conjunction with or in place of the location determination techniques described above, in order to determine and/or further refine an appropriate user customization for display to the user.

A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the various aspects described hereinafter will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention claimed hereinafter may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which a smart device is a member of a wireless network and in which the smart device is equipped with a customizable user interface according to the disclosure that follows.

FIG. 2 illustrates in block diagram form exemplary components of the exemplary smart device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates in flow chart form an example method for customizing a user experience.

FIG. 4 illustrates another flow chart of an example method for customizing a user experience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of example methods and apparatus is not intended to limit the scope of the description to the precise form or forms detailed herein. Instead the following description is intended to be illustrative so that others may follow its teachings.

In the present disclosure, a customized media access experience is provided to a user when the user visits a remote location, such as a hotel, or other suitable accommodation, including by way of example, vacation home rental, cruise ship, home-sharing rental, timeshare, hostel, serviced apartment, or the like. The customized user experience can be implemented on a user interface associated with any suitable entertainment device, such as a smart device including, for example but not limited to, cellular phones, tablet computers, e-books, smart watches, smart jewelry (e.g., a ring, a necklace, a bracelet, etc.), wireless glasses, smart apparel, any other wearable electronic device, hand-held games, portable media players, PDAs, and certain entertainment appliances such as for example so-called “smart TVs,” cable or satellite set top boxes, etc. In certain examples, the customized experience can be implemented by customizing a remote control. The customized experience is intended to provide the user with access to their personalized and/or customized settings, including for instance, favorite channels and/or media content that the user is authorized to access. The systems and methods identify the credentials of the user through any suitable means, including for instance, verification of identity at check-in (in the example of checking into a hotel), a secure login on a smart device app or other login, or a proximity identification, such as NFC, Bluetooth, IR, RF, local Wireless signal, etc., to allow the user to access the channels and/or media content on the identified smart devices. The example systems and methods may store user credentials in a remote location (i.e., the cloud) in association with a user identifier, such as an identifier associated with the user's own smart device(s)—for example a cell phone, a personal remote control, a master log-in, biometric information, etc. The credentials and/or preferences may also be stored on a device that the user carries with them.

In at least one example, upon verification of the user identity and customizations associated with the user, the example systems and methods synchronize channel line-ups, including authorized channels, favorites, etc, and optionally synchronize various apps at the remote location to provide the user with the same media they utilize on other devices, such as for example on their home smart devices. In still other examples, the synchronization process has the ability to program the associated remote control with the codes and/or customization needed to operate the remotely located smart device (e.g., to program the remote to control the remote television). In still further examples, the synchronization has the ability to recall various states associated with a device and/or media app, such as pause locations, media currently being watched, etc.). For example and without limitation, the synchronization and/or configuration associated with an app may occur according to a process such as the processes described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,063,625, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Finally, in order to provide a secure association between the remote smart device and the user, the systems and methods allow for the deletion and/or reverification of the user's credentials upon a user leaving the area temporarily or permanently (e.g., leaving the hotel room or checking-out) to prevent unauthorized access by a different user, such as a new guest, hotel staff, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example of a system for customizing a smart device, such as a TV 102 or a set top box (STB) 104, is illustrated. While illustrated in the context of a TV 102 and a set top box 104, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that TV 102 and the STB may be separate (as illustrated) or combined into a single unit. Moreover, throughout the following disclosure, while the example methods and systems are directed towards the customization of the TV 102 and/or the STB 104, it will be understood that the examples detailed herein may be equally applicable to any suitable media device including, for instance, a smart phone, tablet, laptop, computer, ereader, gaming system, etc.

In this example, each of the TV 102 and the STB 104 may communicate with a wireless network 106 (or alternatively a wired network as desired). The network 106, in turn, communicates with a network gateway device 108, and a network cloud 110, coupled to a network database 112, accessible via the network cloud 110, in which may be stored user profile data and/or various applications for use by the TV 102. A computer terminal 120 may be coupled to the network cloud 110 to communicate with the various network components as desired. As noted, it is to be understood that controllable appliances may include, but need not be limited to, televisions, cable or satellite converter set-top boxes, cable ready devices, personal computers, etc.

In a further example, a second smart device, such as a smart phone 100 be coupled to the wireless network 106 and may be further adapted to communicate with the STB 104 and/or the TV 102 via any suitable communication protocol 110 including NFC, Wireless Communication, Bluetooth, etc. The example may contain the necessary hardware to enable direct transmission of commands between the TV 102, STB 104, smart phone 100 and the wireless network 106, for example without limitation the technology described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/043,915 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As is known in the art, appliance commands may be issued in the form of infrared signals 110 as illustrated, or in any other suitable format, e.g., via an RF signal such as contemplated by RF4CE, Zwave, Bluetooth, etc.; ultrasonic signal; visible light; etc. as appropriate for the control of each particular appliance.

In the illustrated example, the smart device 100 is a smart phone. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, however, that the smart device may be more or less sophisticated than a smart phone, such as for instance a fob, a remote control 107, a smart card, personal computer, or other suitable device with communication capabilities. With reference to FIG. 2, as is known in the art, the smart phone 100 may include as needed for a particular application, processing means 200 which may comprise both an application processing section 202 and an RF/DSP processing section 204; an LCD display 206; a keypad 208 which may comprise physical keys, touch keys overlaying LCD 206, or a combination thereof; a subscriber identification module (SIM) card 210; memory means 212 which may comprise ROM, RAM, Flash, or any combination thereof; WiFi and/or Bluetooth wireless interface(s) 214; a wireless telephony interface 216; power management circuitry 218 with associated battery 220; a USB interface 222 and connector 224; an audio management system 226 with associated microphone 228, speaker 230, and headphone jack 232; optional IR communication means comprising a transmitter and/or receiver 236 with associated IR output diode(s) 234, various optional accessory features 238 such as a digital camera, accelerometer, etc. , and a GPS 240.

Turning now to FIG. 3, one example of a customized user access experience process 300 may be initiated and performed. In the example illustrated, the process 300 may be initiated by an event step 302 that functions to initiate the user customization process. For example, the event step 302 may be a check-in event, such as a check-in at the front desk or mobile app of a hotel or other travel accommodation via the terminal 120. Upon check-in, the terminal 120 may imitate a look-up of a user profile associated with the user checking in and determine if the user has any customized media access experience preferences stored in the database 112 at the step 304. The user profile may include any number of attributes, including the user's billing preferences, home address, reward membership number, etc., but in this example, the user profile additionally may include media access preferences identified by the user. These attributes may include preferred TV channels or other media preferences such as video streaming apps, music streaming apps, navigational guide preferences, or any other suitable media access preference. The user preferences may be pre-arranged, e.g., pre-populated by the user, populated via a previous visit, or defaulted to standard layouts without customization. Moreover, the user preferences may be populated at the time of check-in by the terminal 120, such as a questionnaire, preference listing, etc.

Upon look-up of any user profile, the process 300 determines if any user media preferences were found in the database 112 or if any preferences were created at the time of check-in at the step 306. If the user does not have any preferences, a default user media experience is provided at the step 308. If, however, user media preferences are retrieved, the process 300 proceeds to customize any smart device associated with the user and on the network 106 at a step 310. During this customization process, the terminal 120 pushes a customization request to the STB 104 and/or the TV 102, or other suitable smart device, such as an iPad, etc., located in the user's room. It will be understood that while the process 300 is disclosed as providing a customized user access experience for the TV 102 and/or the STB 104, the process 300 may be utilized to configure any of the noted suitable smart devices. For instance, the terminal 120 may cause the STB 104 to rearrange the program guide displayed on the TV 102 to correspond to the identified user preferences. In a similar manner, the terminal 120 may cause the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 to download or initialize any preferred apps such as video streaming apps, music streaming apps, weather apps, etc., as identified by the user preferences at the step 312. This customization may optionally include all necessary userid and password combinations to allow any preferred aps to operate without further authorization input from the user.

Once the preferred user elements and/or apps are provided to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 or are downloaded to or by the devices, any access by the user to the devices will result in the user being shown a customized media access experience. In particular, the user may visualize a preferred user interface, with their preferred guide format, favorites, etc. identified, and, as noted above, the user's preferred apps may be authorized for immediate use. By providing the proper authorization on the noted apps, various functions, such as playback location, purchased items, etc. may be readily available. Other user preferences for other devices and/or aspects of a room, building, etc. may also be provided. For example, user preferences related to light dimming settings (e.g., light level preferences, timing preferences for different light levels, etc.), temperature/thermostat or other climate control settings (e.g., humidity, air quality, etc.), settings for appliances (e.g., refrigerator), settings for bathrooms (e.g., water temperature in sink and/or shower/bath, heated toilet seat settings, shower steamer settings, etc.), settings for a security system, etc., may also be provided so that a user's experience of a home, hotel room, etc. may be customized based on their preferences.

In addition to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 being customized, the systems and methods disclosed may provide the proper codesets to any associated remote control, or other appliance, either native to the hotel room (e.g., the hotel room's remote control), brought into the room by the user (e.g., the user's personal remote control), or located on, for instance, the user's smart device 100 (e.g., a remote control app located on the smart device 100). Techniques for configuration, programming, and/or remapping of various remote controls or other appliances are well-known to one of ordinary skill in the art and will not be discussed in detail herein.

As one can imagine, security for accessing a user customized media access experience may be of significant importance to some people. More precisely, a user may wish to limit access to their customized media access experience with any number of scenarios including when the user temporarily leaves the room, or permanently leaves the room, such as once the user has checked-out. This authorization process is performed at step 318. In the authorization step 318, the process may perform any suitable manner of authorizing content. For example, the process may simply provide the user with a simple question-and-response prompt on the TV 102, the system may include various sensors, including wired sensors, wireless sensors, and/or motion sensors, all of which are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art, to determine room occupancy and/or proximity of the user to the displayed customized media access experience. In another example, biometric information about a user may be used to enhance security for the user. For example, during check-in to a hotel room, a room key card may be temporarily (e.g., for a predetermined amount of time, for a time until the user checks out and/or the key card is re-programmed or deactivated) programmed with the user's profile information (e.g., preferences) using biometric information for authentication. In this way, the room key may be used to communicate the user's profile to the devices contained within or related to the room whenever the key is present in the room (e.g., when the key card is placed into a key card holder within the room that reads the card using, for example, near field contact (NFC) and/or radio frequency identification (RFID) technology) or presumed to be present in the room (e.g., when the last entry into the room was using the programmed key card). When the user leaves the room (e.g., sensed by the door opening, the lights being turned off, an absence of the key card in a key card holder, motion sensors within the room or outside the room, etc.), access to the user's profile is cut-off or otherwise disabled. However, the user may return to the room, so the user's profile may remain on the devices and/or the key card until the user checks-out of the hotel to continue to provide a seamless user experience no matter how many times they leave or enter the room.

If the display of the customization is determined to not be authorized, the customization information is temporarily disabled, in the case where the user intends to return to the location—e.g., the user is still a registered guest (steps 320, 322), or the customization information is permanently deleted, in the case where the user is no longer a registered guest—e.g., the user is checked-out. (steps 320, 324). In the step 322, reauthorization may be any passive or active step performed by the user, or the system, including a sensor detection by the system, or a positive authorization step by the user, such as a button press, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 4, another example of a customized user access experience process 400 at a remote location, such as a hotel or the like, may be initiated and performed. In this example, the process 400 may be initiated by an event step 402 that functions to initiate the user customization process. Specifically, the smart device 100 may initiate an app in step 402 that functions to determine if the smart device 100 is within the range of the wireless network 106. If the smart device 100 becomes, or is already, a member of the network 106, the app may then initiate a network sniff 404 to thereby locate and properly identify the TV 102 and/or the STB 104, which may also be a member of the same wireless network 106.

For example, the smart device 100 may connect to the wireless network 106 and the target TV 102 and/or the STB 104, also being a member of that network 106, may identify itself to the smart device 100 or be requested to identify itself to the smart device 100. During this process, the smart device 100 is also caused to determine 406 its own device location within the entirety of the remote location, such as for example, the smart device's registered hotel number, via use of GPS services, via cell phone location services, login data comparison and/or the like. While not required, the smart device app may cause the determined smart device location to be displayed to thereby allow the user to confirm that location. After the user confirms the location (if applicable), the smart device 100 and the local TV 102 and/or the STB 104 initiate a two-way communication connection 408, either directly or through the network 106. It will be appreciated that any communication between the smart device 100 and the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 may be displayed within an optional GUI confirmation screen to allow the user to optionally confirm the connection, and allow the communication of previously stored user preferences or the creation of new user preferences 410.

As with the process 300, the user profile in this example may include any number of attributes, including the user's billing preferences, home address, reward membership number, the user's media access preferences, such as preferred TV channels or other media preferences such as video streaming apps, music streaming apps, navigational guide preferences, or any other suitable media access preference. The user preferences may be pre-arranged, e.g., pre-populated by the user, populated via a previous visit, or defaulted to standard layouts without customization 412.

As with the process 300, if the user does not have any preferences, a default user media experience is provided at the step 412. If, however, user media preferences are retrieved, the process 400, proceeds to customize the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 at a step 414. During this customization process, the smart device 100 pushes customization data to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104. Alternatively, the process 400 may cause the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 to retrieve, download or initialize any preferred apps such as video streaming apps, music streaming apps, weather apps, etc., as identified by the user preferences from the smart device 100. As with the previous example, this customization may optionally include all necessary userid and password combinations to allow any preferred aps to operate without further authorization input from the user at a step 416.

Once the preferred user elements and/or apps are provided to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104, any access by the user to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 will result in the user being provided with a customized media access experience 418. In particular, the user may visualize a preferred user interface, with their preferred guide format, favorites, etc. identified, and, as noted above, the user's preferred apps—such as streaming apps—may be authorized for immediate use. By providing the proper authorization on the noted apps, various functions, such as playback location, purchased items, etc. may be readily available.

Various embodiments may include opportunities to stream, use, or otherwise view content that is related to apps or services only the user has access to and/or related to apps or services only the facility (e.g., hotel) has access to. As a non-limiting example, the content provider associated with a STB in a hotel room may not correspond with a user's content provider (e.g., the hotel may have a satellite TV provider while the user has a cable company TV provider). When the user's preferences and/or profile are determined, the system may determine that the user's preferences are not aligned with the provider of the STB in the room. Upon such a detection, a notification may be provided to the user (e.g., through the user's smart device 100, the TV 102, etc.) that provides them with various options for accessing content from different providers. For example, an option may be to access the content provided via the STB in the room. Another option presented to the user may be an option to stream content available to the user on their smart device to a device in the room (e.g., stream content from a smart phone laptop/tablet to a TV and/or speaker, etc.). In such an example, selection by the user of the option to stream content available to the user may initiate the user's content provider app on the user's smart device and may also initiate streaming of that content to a device in the room (e.g., TV). Yet another option presented to the user may be an option to stream data from a user device that is already active. For example, if a user opens a content provider app on their smart device (e.g., laptop, phone, tablet), a notification to the user may be displayed on the smart device or a device in the room (e.g., TV) requesting whether the user would like to stream the content to the device in the room. In some embodiments, the active smart device may be automatically detected by the room and the content may be automatically streamed to a room device. For example, if a user opens a content provider app on a smart device and selects content to watch, that content may be automatically streamed to the device in the room because the synchronization between the devices in the room and the user's devices has already occurred. In another option presented to the user, the user may indicate that content from an STB may be streamed to a user device. For example, if the user accesses content through the STB but wants to continue watching the content in the bathroom, the user may select an option to stream the STB content to their smart device (e.g., tablet, phone, laptop) so that the user may carry the smart device into the bathroom. In yet another option that may be presented to a user, the user may specify which device they prefer to stream from and/or otherwise control content being displayed on a room device (e.g., TV). For example, the user may select a laptop to use for streaming content to a room device and/or control a room device. The user may also select other devices such as a tablet or smart phone. The user may also switch between devices such that all their devices may control devices in the room and/or stream content to the room device(s). In such examples, one, some, or all of the user's devices may be capable of controlling and/or streaming to the room devices at any given time. In addition, the multiple devices of a user may be used to hand off streaming, for example, if a user device's battery gets low or dies. In this way, the streaming may not be interrupted merely because a user device's battery is low or dead. Accordingly, the room may present the user with many different functionalities and options. Such functionalities and options may even be presented to the user even if they do not have a different content provider than an STB.

In addition to the TV 102 and/or the STB 104 being customized, the systems and methods disclosed may provide the proper codesets to any associated remote control, or other appliance, either native to the hotel room (e.g., the hotel room's remote control), brought into the room by the user (e.g., the user's personal remote control), or located on, for instance, the user's smart device 100 (e.g., a remote control app located on the smart device 100). Techniques for configuration, programming, and/or remapping of various remote controls or other appliances are well-known to one of ordinary skill in the art and will not be discussed in detail herein.

Any authorization process is optionally performed at step 420. In the authorization step 420, the process may perform any suitable manner of authorizing content. For example, the process may simply provide the user with a time limit (e.g., until 10 am the next day, etc.), simple question-and-response prompt on the TV 102, or as previously described, the system may include various sensors to determine room occupancy and/or proximity of the user to the displayed customized media access experience.

If the display of the customization is determined 420 to no-longer be authorized, the customization information is temporarily disabled 422, in the case where the user intends to return to the location—e.g., the user is still a registered guest (steps 422, 424), or the customization information is permanently deleted, in the case where the user is no longer a registered guest—e.g., the user is checked-out. (steps 422, 426).

Although certain example methods and apparatus have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. All patents cited within this document are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory, computer-readable media having stored thereon instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a media device, cause the media device to response to a request to display a custom graphical user interface that is associated with a select user among a plurality of users by performing steps comprising: determining a media device identifier that specifies a setting of the media device to display the custom graphical interface on a display that is associated with the media device; and using the determined media device identifier to cause a remote control device to be provisioned with at least one command code compatible with the media device wherein the at least one command code is usable to command interaction with the custom graphical user interface displayed on the media device.
 2. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the media device to periodically verify authorization for access to the media device by the select user.
 3. The non-transitory, computer-readable media method of claim 2, wherein verifying authorization for access to the media device by the select user comprises receiving data by the media device indicative of a proximity of the select user relative to the media device.
 4. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the at least one command code compatible with the media device is selected based on stored configuration information for the remote control.
 5. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device is connected to an accommodation network.
 6. The non-transitory, computer-readable media method of claim 5, wherein the instructions further cause the media device to periodically verify authorization for access to the media device by the select user and wherein verifying authorization for access to the media device by the select user comprises verifying a registration of the select user with the accommodation.
 7. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the media device to remove all authorization for access to the media device by the select user when the user is determined to no longer be registered with the accommodation.
 8. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device is a television.
 9. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device is a set top box coupled to a television.
 10. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device is further adapted to receive data from a smart device associated with the select user indicative of a smart device application and the instructions cause the media device to use the received data to retrieve a compatible smart device application for display on the display associated with the media device.
 11. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device is further adapted to receive data from a smart device associated with the select user indicative of login information and the instructions cause the smart device to use the received data to authenticate the select user for providing access to one or more services accessible via use of the custom graphical user interface.
 12. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions prohibit access to the custom graphical user interface in the absence of data being received by the media device that is indicative of the select user being within a predetermined proximity to the media device.
 13. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the data is received from a smart device associated with the select user.
 14. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the smart device comprises a cellular phone.
 15. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device comprises a media streaming device and the custom graphical user interface comprises one or more user selectable icons indicative of streaming services accessible via use of the media streaming device.
 16. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the media device comprises a media streaming device and the custom graphical user interface comprises one or more user selectable icons indicative of streaming media content accessible via use of the media streaming device. 